UK to start directly buying Russian gas

Britain will begin buying Russian gas directly this year, while the rest of Europe is attempting to cut its reliance on supplies from Moscow amidst the crisis in Ukraine.

Under a deal signed in 2012 the UK’s biggest utility company
Centrica will start importing Russian gas from October this year,
Reuters reports.

The deal remains in the pipeline, despite EU calls to move away
from energy reliance on Russia. On Friday European Union leaders
discussed the possible ways to diversify, as they say Crimea’s
annexation by Russia made them more
determined to take action.

UK domestic gas production is falling by about 7 percent
annually, and the country is looking for alternative sources to
fill the gap.

Supplies of Russian gas, which already provide a third of
Europe’s needs, reach Britain through the central and south
eastern parts of the continent, rather than directly. Most of
Britain’s imports comes piped from Norway and liquefied natural
gas (LNG) shipments from further afield.

Most Russian supplies have recently been from storage in Germany.

Russia’s energy major Gazprom sells between 11 billion and 12
billion cubic metres to the UK, which is about 15 percent of
country’s total need.